The Gràcia Archive in La Pedrera

The Gràcia District Municipal Archive preserves and provides previously unseen images of La Pedrera as part of its work to recover local documentary heritage.

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The Municipal Archive of the Gràcia District has provided us with two unpublished images of La Pedrera that it holds in its custody. As a result of its commitment to recovering the district’s documentary heritage, this archive preserves fonds and collections from institutions, associations, and private individuals.

These are two images by amateur photographers whose value lies primarily in their documentary significance.

One of them was taken by the historian and archivist Josep Maria Madurell i Marimón (Barcelona, 1893–1983), who devoted himself intensively to research and published a large number of studies, many of them related to the history of culture, publishing, and books. Madurell worked as an archivist at the Maritime Museum and at the General Archive of Protocols of Barcelona, and collaborated on broadcasts of the Municipal Institute of History on Radio Barcelona. The photograph is dated 1915, and the railings on the ground floor of the building can still be seen in it. Very few images of La Pedrera from those years exist, and almost all of them were already known.

The other photograph was taken by Miquel Brasó i Vaqués (Barcelona, 1904–1974), an archaeologist, draftsman, and historian of Gràcia. Self-taught by training, he carried out numerous studies on the architecture, urban planning, and toponymy of Gràcia, and undertook significant work in public dissemination. The date of this photograph is very precise: December 25, 1959.

Both photographs are part of the collection of the Club Excursionista de Gràcia, of which both historians were members. The collection contains 347 images by Miquel Brasó related to popular festivities, culture, urban development, and everyday life, as well as 26 images by Josep Maria Madurell i Marimón focusing on urban themes and religious festivals.

Interestingly, La Pedrera is built on the exact spot where, until 1897, the boundary between the municipality of Barcelona and the town of Gràcia was located; that same year, Gràcia was incorporated into the city.